Containers for storing needles or the like



March 13, 1962 J. SCHUMACHER 3,024,898

CONTAINERS FOR STORING NEEDLES OR THE LIKE Filed Nov. 7, 1958 INVENTOF?.ToSEF Hume/ R BKM,M"MM

United States Patent 3,024,898 CONTAINERS FOR STORING NEEDLES OR THELIKE Josef Schumacher, 60 Bergstrasse, Birgel, near Duren (Rhineland),Germany Filed Nov. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 772,540 Claims priority,application Germany Nov. 9, 1957 13 Claims. (Cl. 206-1) The inventionrelates to containers for storing articles, in particular needles or thelike, and it concerns a container of this kind in the form of a boxclosed with the aid of a lid.

Needles or the like are stored in the most varying types of containers,preference being given to containers consisting of boxes of the mostwidely-varying shapes adapted to be closed by means of a lid. In allboxes of this kind, the needles must be removed individually by handafter the lid has been opened. As this is done, the fingertips can ofcourse very easily be injured in a manner which is not only extremelypainful but which also may give rise to a larger number of diiferentinfections. Furthermore, when the box has been emptied to a considerableextent, it is extremely difficult to grasp the individual needles lyingon the bottom of the box.

If, however, a box which has been opened for the purpose of making useof the needles is pushed over, the entire contents fall out, the needleshave to be picked up again, and this is a tedious operation. Apart frominjuries which may also be caused during this operation, in most casesnumerous needles are overlooked and these easily get into the wronghands, for example into the hands of playing children, resulting innumerous further dangers.

The invention proceeds from the known containers used for the storing ofneedles and has as its object to considerably improve the utilityproperties of the said containers by obviating the above-describeddisadvantages. According to the invention, the inner space of thecontainer is subdivided in two inter-connected compartments by means ofa guide well proceeding from the lateral wall and extendingsubstantially perpendicularly to the bottom of the container, one of thesaid compartments having, near the root of the separating wall, anaperture passing through the lateral wall of the box.

In consequence of this manner of shaping the container, the needles maybe removed therefrom practically individually without it being necessaryto open the container by removing the lid, the possibility ofsimultaneously removing a relatively large number of needles afterremoving the lid being, however, not excluded.

According to a further feature of the invention, the guiding wall isfirmly connected at one of its longitudinal edges with the containerbottom, extends substantially in the direction of a chord in theinterior of the container, and forms an acute angle with the lateralwall thereof.

Advantageously, the guiding wall may be curved, the curvature thereofcorresponding for example to that of the lateral wall of the container.In a preferred embodiment of the container according to the invention, aguiding wall curved in this manner is so arranged that its two ends arespaced apart by substantially of the container diameter and are disposedon a common diameter thereof.

Expediently, the lateral aperture is of circular crosssection. It maypass through the lateral wall both at right-angles and also at an acuteangle, it being advantageous to select an angle relatively to thevertical which corresponds to the angle enclosed between the guidingwall and the lateral wall. In place of a circular cross-section,however, it is also possible to select a ice rectangular cross-section.Furthermore, two such apertures can be arranged side-by-side.

For the reliable guiding of the needles in the container in thedirection of this lateral aperture, the container bottom may have aninclination directed towards the aperture of the container.

In order to prevent the undesired emergence of individual needles fromthe lateral aperture formed in the container, the latter is providedwith a closure member which may be arranged in the most varied ways. Inan especially advantageous embodiment, the closure member consists of atongue arranged on the lid, extending at least to a point level with thelower edge of the aperture and sliding on the outer or inner side of thelateral wall of the container, the said tongue being displaced into itsclosure or opening position by the rotation of the lid. The closuremember may be provided, in the simplest possible manner, with a devicelocking it in the closure position.

The container may consist of any desired material, such as sheet-metal,one of the usual synthetic plastic materials, or the like. Whensynthetic plastic materials are used, it will advantageously bemanufactured in a die casting or deep-drawing process, the guiding walland/or the closure member being in one piece with the container.

A constructional example of the container according to the invention isillustrated in the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows a cross-section through the container,

FIGURE 2 shows a plan view of the closed container,

FIGURE 3 shows a longitudinal section through the container taken alongthe lines 33 in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 shows a lateral view of the container lid, and

FIGURE 5 shows a lateral view of a further constructional example of thecontainer.

In the figures, 1 designates the container bottom and 2 the lateral wallhaving a groove 3 in the zone of its upper edge. The outer diameter ofthe lateral wall 2 corresponds to the outer diameter of the lid 4closing the container, the internal diameter of the said lidcorresponding to the outer diameter of the container reduced in theregion of the groove 3.

Extending into the container is a guide wall 5 connected at 6 to thelateral wall 2 and at 7 to the container bottom 1. As apparent inparticular from FIGURE 1, it is curved to a degree correspondingsubstantially to the curvature of the lateral wall 2 and. extends over alength of /3 of the container diameter into the said container, the twoends of the guide wall 5 being disposed on a common container diameter.The said guide wall 5 extends to a height of substantially of that ofthe container inner space. In this manner, there are formed in thecontainer two compartments 8 and 9 connected together, as indicated at10, above the guide wall 5.

In the region of the container bottom 1, which is arranged in aninclined manner in FIGURE 3, and of the root 6 of the guide wall 5, anaperture 11 passes through the lateral wall 2 at an angle (FIGURE 1)corresponding to the angle enclosed by the guide wall 5 and the lateralwall 2.

The cover 4 provided on its upper side with a pincushion 12 is providedlaterally with a tongue 13 serving as a closure member for the aperture11 and corresponding substantially to the height of the container.FIGURE 2 shows the tongue 13 in an arrangement closing the aperture 11from the interior of the container, whereas FIGURE 4 illustrates thetongue 13 in an arrangement such as is used for the outward closure ofthe aperture 11.

In the constructional example according to FIGURE 5, instead of oneaperture 11 two apertures 14 are provided which are arrangedside-by-side and have substantially rectangular cross-section.Furthermore, FIG- URE illustrates an example of the mode of locking thetongue 13. The lateral wall 2 of the container is recessed to the depthof the groove 3, in the region of the apertures 14, as shown at 15. Thetongue 13 is, in this case, constructed as a prolongation of the edge ofthe lid 4 (not shown in detail in the drawings) and is thus enabled topenetrate into the recess 15 and to be displaced therein by rotation ofthe lid until it bears laterally against one of the lateral edges of therecess 15. The width of the recess 15 is so selected that the tongue 13covers the apertures 14 when it bears against the lateral edge 16 of therecess 15, but releases the apertures 14 when it bears against thelateral edge 17 of the recess 15.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the special examplesdescribed hereinabove and illustrated in the figures; on the contrary,numerous variants are possible without departing from the underlyingidea of the invention.

I claim:

1. A container for storing articles, in particular needles or the like,in the form of a box having a circular wall and closed by means of alid, characterised in that the inner space of the container issub-divided into two interconnected compartments by means of a guidewall extending from the lateral wall and extending substantiallyperpendicular to the container bottom, one of the said compartmentshaving, near the root of the separating wall, an aperture passingthrough the lateral wall of the box.

2. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the guidewall is securely connected to the container bottom at one of itslongitudinal edges.

3. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the guidewall projects into the interior of the container in the direction of achord and forms an acute angle with the lateral wall thereof.

4. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the guidewall is curved to a degree corresponding substantially to the curvatureof the lateral wall of the container and is so arranged that its twoends are spaced apart by substantially /s of the container diameter andare disposed on a common diameter.

5. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the lateralaperture has a circular cross-section and passes through the lateralWall at an angle relatively to the vertical which corresponds to theangle enclosed between the guide wall and the lateral wall.

6. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the apertureis of rectangular cross-section.

7. A container according to claim 1 characterised in that a plurality ofapertures is arranged side-by-side.

8. -A container according to claim 1, characterised in that thecontainer bottom is inclined in a direction extending towards thelateral aperture thereof.

9. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that there isassociated with the lateral aperture formed in the container a memberclosing the said aperture.

10. A container according to claim 9, characterised in that the closuremember consists of a tongue arranged on the lid, extending to a point atleast level with the lower edge of the aperture and sliding on one ofthe outer and inner sides of the lateral wall.

11. A container according to claim 9, characterised in that the closuremember is adapted to be locked in the closure position.

12. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that, whensynthetic plastic material or the like is used, the said container ismanufactured in a die casting process.

13. A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the guidewall is in one piece with the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS735,757 Grubbs Aug. 11, 1903 1,494,978 Roy May 20, 1924 1,886,373 BraceyNov. 8, 1932 2,144,255 Carpenter Jan. 17, 1939 2,214,993 De Witt Sept.17, 1940 2,549,681 Goldstaub Apr. 17, 1951 2,551,710 Slaughter May 8,1951 2,613,859 Boudreau Oct. 14, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 472,832 GermanyMar. 7, 1929 573,757 Germany Apr. 5, 1933 627,640 Great Britain Aug. 12,1949

